Page 80 of Maximum Dare
“You have nothing to forgive yourself for.”
“I replay that morning over and over. It’s like an out-of-body experience where I’m shouting at myself not to speak up…not to offer them a lift.”
“Have you considered that maybe you were meant to take them, Daisy?”
I shook my head. “What do you mean?”
“Maybe you were meant to see your brother happy as he headed off to do what he loved. It wasn’t about the awards to him, it was the sport itself. It was about the camaraderie with his teammates.”
“Aunty says Liam’s forever happy now, that he’s skiing all over heaven.”
“You’re aunt’s as mad as a hatter.”
I burst out laughing. “Aren’t you supposed to agree with her for my sake?”
“Well, I know this much—he wouldn’t want you to be sad. He certainly wouldn’t want you to take the blame.”
“I know you’re right, but I can’t shake it.” The trauma I still felt was stifling.
I was afraid Max wouldn’t want to see me again. I’d been too emotional, and now he knew how damaged I was inside.
I reached for the door handle. “Thank you for lunch.”
“You have to go back to university,” he said flatly. “Promise me you’ll consider it.”
“I will,” I said to appease him.
“There’s something I’ve been meaning to do,” he said. “I just never get around to doing it.”
I looked back at him, fingers curling around the door handle, ready for him to release me from the car.
He narrowed his gaze on me. “I want to see more of…London.”
“I thought you spent your summers here while you were growing up.”
“Yes, but I haven’t allowed myself to be a tourist in years.”
“What sort of things do you want to see?”
“All of it.”
“Even taking a double-decker bus ride? That kind of thing?”
“That would be a fun place to start.” He gave me a questioning smile. “Want to be my guide?”
Icouldn’t believe Daisy had never visited The Victoria and Albert Museum before.
Together, we strolled along the hallways and huddled close in the vast showrooms awed by the variety of the art and fashion—and even the architecture of the building itself. It was easy to get lost in the place.
Before coming here, we’d acted like tourists, having taken a tour on a double-decker bus around the city, and then getting off at the stop outside this museum.
After her tearful confession of self-imposed guilt earlier, I was glad to be the one to make her feel better.
She’d lit up with joy the moment she’d realized we were stopping at the museum. It housed some of the most incredible sculptures. One could see a brilliant snapshot of Great Britain within its formidable walls, but other objects from all over the world were showcased here as well—from rare manuscripts to a showroom full of glamorous wedding dresses.
“It’s impossible to see everything in one day,” I told her. “There are well over two million treasures here spanning five thousand years. We’ll have to come back again. Just you and me.”
She brightened at that. “To be honest, you didn’t strike me as the type of person who would want to visit the Victoria and Albert Museum.”
